By Ann Bailey Herald Staff Writer It’s easy to visualize decorating ideas at Al- lisoNicole’s Interior De- sign and Floral. From the sitting area in the front of the store, to the kitchen in the back, owner Allison Comstock’s store has the feel of a home. Just inside the store en- trance, for example, are a sofa and chairs gathered cozily around a fireplace. Down the hall, the work- ing kitchen features ap- pliances, granite countertops and a tile floor. Even the men’s and women’s restrooms are decorated home-style with accessories that are for sale. Art lover Comstock has enjoyed decorating since she was a girl. “The majority of my life I’ve been an artsy per- son,” she said recalling that she used to help her parents decorate their family home. After she graduated from the Art Institute in Pittsburgh, she returned to Grand Forks and worked as an interior designer at a local decorating store for a few years. In August 2010 she opened AllisoNicole’s In- terior Design and Floral. She offers decorating con- sultations and sells furni- ture, accessories and flowers. She also sells daily lunch specials, which include a sandwich and soup and homemade desserts made in the store kitchen. “Basically, I try to cre- ate a one-stop shop,” she said. Flexible Comstock is available to do a variety of decorat- ing jobs. “I’ve done spec homes. I’ve done remodels. I’ve done custom new homes,” she said. Although she has certain suppliers she likes to do business with, Comstock also will buy products from other busi- nesses if that is what her customers prefer. “With the consulting, we can work any way a client wants to work,” she said. Her flexibility includes offering decorat- ing suggestions in a wide variety of price ranges to suit different budgets. She thrives on helping people turn their decorat- ing ideas into reality. “I dream of it at night and I never get sick of it.” While it’s helpful when clients come to her store with definite ideas about how they want to deco- rate and photos of the rooms they’re planning to make over, it’s not neces- sary, she said. “Not every client who comes to me has a photo in their hand. They’re coming to me looking for information.” She talks with the client, asking them questions about their decorating tastes and lifestyles, then makes suggestions about how to achieve the look they’re seeking. Sometimes peo- ple describe themselves as having a certain deco- rating taste, but after con- sulting with Comstock, learn that what they thought was their style, really wasn’t at all, Com- stock said. Customer-friendly Although she has cer- tain styles she likes more than others, she doesn’t try to influence her cus- tomers’ tastes, she said. “ “I can create whatever you are asking, whether that is my particular taste or not,” she said. Some of her clients aren’t seeking to make over a whole room, but to make a statement with ac- cessories. “People have been looking for one-of-a-kind accessories, for sure,” Comstock said. “They give me an idea, and I go from there.” Being an interior deco- rator requires not only being on top, but ahead, of the game. “You have to be able to think outside the box and you have to be two steps ahead of everyone else.” SPRING 2011 Advertising supplement to the Grand Forks Herald, Sunday April 24, 2011 Staying ahead of the game Submitted photo Allison Comstock is owner of AllisoNicole’s Interior Design and Floral. ■ Allison Comstock, owner of AllisoNicole’s Interior Design and Floral, thinks outside the box when it comes to interior design Container gardening 101 ■ Gardening expert, Rebecca Kolls, says when it comes to container gardening there is no limit to what you can do By Ann Bailey Herald Staff Writer No space for a garden? No problem, say gardening ex- perts. Instead of planting vegetables in a traditional rectangular plot or flowers in conventional beds, gar- deners can use containers. “If it can hold soil, it can hold a plant, it can grow things,” says Re- becca Kolls, a veteran Wisconsin gardener. Kolls, the author of gar- dening books and a gardening con- sultant for national television shows, was the speaker at Garden- ing Saturday an annual event sponsored by NDSU Extension Service-Grand Forks County and the Grand Forks Horticulture Soci- ety. Containers Containers don’t need to be ex- pensive or fancy, Kolls said, noting that hardware and farm supply stores are good places to find them. Livestock watering tanks, which come in a variety of sizes, can hold either flowers or vegeta- bles or a combination of the two. Terra cotta and plastic pots, which also are available in varying sizes, can be grouped together to create a lovely flower display. “You can do a potted paradise on our deck,” Kolls said. Garden- ers who use containers should make sure that the pots are the correct size for the plants, have drain holes and are fertilized and watered on schedule, she noted. Vegetables, as well as flowers, can be grown in pots, Kolls said. Six to 10-inch pots can grow a col- lection of plants that include pars- ley, green onions, herbs, lettuce and radishes, she suggested. Planting in containers gives veg- etable gardeners a jump-start on spring planting because they can sew their seeds in pots a few weeks before their garden plots are dry enough to get into. “Right now I’ve got beets and car- rots growing in my window boxes,” Kolls told the gardeners at Gar- dening Saturday on April 9. More options If production, not aesthetics, is the primary concern, gardeners can grow vegetables in a burlap bag filled with potting soil. Mean- while, tomatoes, peppers and egg- plants can grow in 6-gallon buck- ets. Strawberries, also are easy to grow in pots. If gardeners aren’t worried about aesthetics, they also can simply open the plastic bags of soil they’ve purchased and plant the vegetables in them, Kolls said. Besides hardware and farm sup- ply stores, thrift stores are another good place to find containers. For example, angel food pans, which have a hole in the middle of them, are good containers to use for the top of a patio table that has an umbrella. Herbs, such as basil can be planted in the pan, said Darlene Shea, co-owner of Shea’s Nursery in Grand Forks. Cilantro, another herb, can be grown in a large coffee cup. Lettuce, meanwhile, will grow in a bucket, Shea said, noting that the bucket of lettuce she displayed at Gardening Saturday, could grown the entire season in that container. Beets, radishes and tomatoes also are good candidates for container gardening, Shea said. “You’re only limited by your imagination,” she said. File art Rebecca Kolls is an author of gardening books and a gardening consultant for national television shows. One-stop shopping By Ann Bailey Herald Staff Writer With one phone call to Simonson Lumber and Hardware, homeowners can find everyone they need to get their remod- eling jobs done. Simonson’s Pro Install service locates for home- owners professionals who will do a variety of jobs from installing win- dows and patio doors to roofing to bath, kitchen cabinets and remodels. “I take care of finding the contractors,” said Dayton Kornkven, who manages Pro Install at Si- monson Lumber and Hardware in Grand Forks. “It’s none of this having to chase down a contractor.” Customers in a 50-mile-radius of Grand Forks have used Pro In- stall, he said. “The main thing is to provide homeowners with one-stop-shopping,” Kornkven said. “I can ba- sically general the whole job if that is what the homeowner wants.” Services Simonson Lumber and Hardware launched the Pro Install service sev- eral years ago, first at its Fargo location, and then a few years later at its Grand Forks location, he said. The cost of the Pro Install service is in- cluded in the bill for the home improvement job. “I don’t care the size of the job,” Kornkven said. “It can be re-hanging a door, or (installing) shut- Ann Bailey, photo Dayton Kornkven manages Pro Install at Simonson Lumber and Hardware in Grand Forks. ■ Simonson Lumber and Hardware’s Pro Install takes the hassle out of home improvement projects PRO INSTALL: See Page 2
Transcript
By Ann BaileyHerald Staff Writer
It’s easy to visualizedecorating ideas at Al-lisoNicole’s Interior De-sign and Floral.From the sitting area in
the front of the store, tothe kitchen in the back,owner Allison Comstock’sstore has the feel of ahome.Just inside the store en-
trance, for example, are asofa and chairs gatheredcozily around a fireplace.Down the hall, the work-ing kitchen features ap-pliances, granitecountertops and a tilefloor. Even the men’s andwomen’s restrooms aredecorated home-stylewith accessories that arefor sale.
Art loverComstock has enjoyed
decorating since she wasa girl.“The majority of my life
I’ve been an artsy per-son,” she said recallingthat she used to help herparents decorate theirfamily home. After shegraduated from the Art
Institute in Pittsburgh,she returned to GrandForks and worked as aninterior designer at alocal decorating store fora few years.In August 2010 she
opened AllisoNicole’s In-terior Design and Floral.She offers decorating con-sultations and sells furni-ture, accessories andflowers. She also sellsdaily lunch specials,which include a sandwichand soup and homemadedesserts made in thestore kitchen.“Basically, I try to cre-
ate a one-stop shop,” shesaid.
FlexibleComstock is available
to do a variety of decorat-ing jobs.“I’ve done spec homes.
I’ve done remodels. I’vedone custom new homes,”she said. Although shehas certain suppliers shelikes to do business with,Comstock also will buyproducts from other busi-nesses if that is what hercustomers prefer.“With the consulting,
we can work any way aclient wants to work,”she said. Her flexibilityincludes offering decorat-ing suggestions in a widevariety of price ranges tosuit different budgets.She thrives on helping
people turn their decorat-ing ideas into reality.“I dream of it at night
and I never get sick of it.”While it’s helpful when
clients come to her storewith definite ideas abouthow they want to deco-rate and photos of therooms they’re planning tomake over, it’s not neces-sary, she said.“Not every client who
comes to me has a photoin their hand. They’recoming to me looking forinformation.” She talkswith the client, askingthem questions abouttheir decorating tastesand lifestyles, then makessuggestions about how toachieve the look they’reseeking. Sometimes peo-ple describe themselvesas having a certain deco-rating taste, but after con-sulting with Comstock,learn that what theythought was their style,
really wasn’t at all, Com-stock said.
Customer-friendlyAlthough she has cer-
tain styles she likes morethan others, she doesn’ttry to influence her cus-tomers’ tastes, she said.““I can create whatever
you are asking, whether
that is my particular tasteor not,” she said.Some of her clients
aren’t seeking to makeover a whole room, but tomake a statement with ac-cessories.“People have been
looking for one-of-a-kindaccessories, for sure,”Comstock said. “They give
me an idea, and I go fromthere.”Being an interior deco-
rator requires not onlybeing on top, but ahead,of the game.“You have to be able to
think outside the box andyou have to be two stepsahead of everyone else.”
S P R I N G 2 0 1 1
Advertising supplement to the Grand Forks Herald, Sunday April 24, 2011
Staying ahead of the game
Submitted photo
�� Allison Comstock is owner of AllisoNicole’s Interior Design and Floral.
� Allison Comstock, owner of AllisoNicole’sInterior Design and Floral, thinks outside the
box when it comes to interior design
Container gardening 101� Gardening expert, Rebecca Kolls, says when it comes tocontainer gardening there is no limit to what you can do
By Ann BaileyHerald Staff Writer
No space for a garden? No problem, say gardening ex-
perts. Instead of planting vegetables in
a traditional rectangular plot orflowers in conventional beds, gar-deners can use containers.“If it can hold soil, it can hold a
plant, it can grow things,” says Re-becca Kolls, a veteran Wisconsingardener. Kolls, the author of gar-dening books and a gardening con-sultant for national televisionshows, was the speaker at Garden-ing Saturday an annual eventsponsored by NDSU ExtensionService-Grand Forks County andthe Grand Forks Horticulture Soci-ety.
ContainersContainers don’t need to be ex-pensive or fancy, Kolls said, notingthat hardware and farm supplystores are good places to findthem. Livestock watering tanks,which come in a variety of sizes,can hold either flowers or vegeta-bles or a combination of the two. Terra cotta and plastic pots,
which also are available in varyingsizes, can be grouped together tocreate a lovely flower display.“You can do a potted paradise
on our deck,” Kolls said. Garden-ers who use containers shouldmake sure that the pots are thecorrect size for the plants, havedrain holes and are fertilized andwatered on schedule, she noted.Vegetables, as well as flowers,
can be grown in pots, Kolls said.Six to 10-inch pots can grow a col-lection of plants that include pars-ley, green onions, herbs, lettuceand radishes, she suggested.Planting in containers gives veg-
etable gardeners a jump-start onspring planting because they cansew their seeds in pots a fewweeks before their garden plotsare dry enough to get into. “Right now I’ve got beets and car-
rots growing in my window boxes,”Kolls told the gardeners at Gar-dening Saturday on April 9.
More optionsIf production, not aesthetics, is
the primary concern, gardenerscan grow vegetables in a burlapbag filled with potting soil. Mean-while, tomatoes, peppers and egg-
plants can grow in 6-gallon buck-ets. Strawberries, also are easy togrow in pots.If gardeners aren’t worried about
aesthetics, they also can simplyopen the plastic bags of soilthey’ve purchased and plant thevegetables in them, Kolls said.Besides hardware and farm sup-
ply stores, thrift stores are anothergood place to find containers.For example, angel food pans,
which have a hole in the middle ofthem, are good containers to usefor the top of a patio table that hasan umbrella. Herbs, such as basilcan be planted in the pan, saidDarlene Shea, co-owner of Shea’sNursery in Grand Forks. Cilantro,another herb, can be grown in alarge coffee cup.Lettuce, meanwhile, will grow in
a bucket, Shea said, noting that thebucket of lettuce she displayed atGardening Saturday, could grownthe entire season in that container.Beets, radishes and tomatoes alsoare good candidates for containergardening, Shea said.“You’re only limited by your
imagination,” she said.File art
�� Rebecca Kolls is an author of gardening books and agardening consultant for national television shows.
One-stop shoppingBy Ann BaileyHerald Staff Writer
With one phone call toSimonson Lumber andHardware, homeownerscan find everyone theyneed to get their remod-eling jobs done.Simonson’s Pro Install
service locates for home-owners professionalswho will do a variety ofjobs from installing win-
dows and patio doors toroofing to bath, kitchencabinets and remodels. “I take care of finding
the contractors,” saidDayton Kornkven, whomanages Pro Install at Si-monson Lumber andHardware in GrandForks. “It’s none of thishaving to chase down acontractor.” Customers ina 50-mile-radius of GrandForks have used Pro In-
stall, he said.“The main thing is to
provide homeownerswith one-stop-shopping,”Kornkven said. “I can ba-sically general the wholejob if that is what thehomeowner wants.”
ServicesSimonson Lumber and
Hardware launched thePro Install service sev-
eral years ago, first at itsFargo location, and thena few years later at itsGrand Forks location, hesaid. The cost of the ProInstall service is in-cluded in the bill for thehome improvement job. “I don’t care the size of
the job,” Kornkven said.“It can be re-hanging adoor, or (installing) shut-
Ann Bailey, photo
�� Dayton Kornkven manages Pro Install at SimonsonLumber and Hardware in Grand Forks.
� Simonson Lumber and Hardware’s Pro Install takes thehassle out of home improvement projects
PRO INSTALL: See Page 2
By Alan J. HeavensThe Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — Nowmore than ever, a homelisted for sale in a crowdedmarket knee-deep in adownturn needs to standout among all the rest.
That’s where profes-sional staging comes in.Near the top of the real es-tate agent’s bag of tricks,on the back of the “pricingproperly for the market”card, is the list of stagers’phone numbers.
Whether a house simplyrequires a few tweaks be-fore it hits the MultipleListing Service, or is emptyof furnishings needed toprovide buyers with anidea of what their lifewould be like if they livedthere, staging plays a role.
“At any price, unless youare dealing with a shell, itis important to have thehouse look inviting,” saidJoanne Davidow, vice pres-ident of Prudential Fox &Roach in Center CityPhiladelphia. “Staging canmake the difference be-tween sale and no sale.”
Real estate broker anddeveloper Allan Domb ofAllan Domb Real Estate inCenter City said he usesstagers all the time, on list-ings as well as models inhis buildings.
However, some brokers,for example Paul Leiser ofAvalon Realty at the Shore,say they never use stagersat all.
The real estate searchengine HomeGain re-ported that in a 2009 sur-vey of 1,000 real estateagents nationwide, 82 per-cent used professionalstagers. The average costof staging was $300 to $400,but the return on the in-vestment — increase insale price — ranged from$1,500 to $2,000.
Staging businessSome houses simply
need decluttering, Davi-dow said. Once that is done
— and it isn’t as easy as itsounds — agents can bringin a stager to tweak thelisting.
For this, Anna Powersand Mark Miklosovich,wife and husband andpartners in the 10-year-oldBusybee Homestore andDesign Center on SouthStreet, typically charge$250, Powers said.
“We come out to thehouse and suggest things —for instance, adding apiece of furniture, andthen give them a deal onrental from our 5,000-square-foot warehouse inFishtown or our retailsite,” she said.
The meat and potatoes oftheir business — twohouses a week, probably 80to 100 a year, is the “re-design” of a vacant house,Powers said.
“There are so manyempty properties on themarket that it is a hugebusiness.”
Some of their work is fordevelopers with new con-struction; the rest foragents whose clients havemoved and taken their be-longings.
The 6,500-square-foothouse in Wynnewood, Pa.,they completed last weekwas owned by a couplewho moved to San Fran-cisco with all the furniture,for example.
One of the owners, JuliaSalinas, said the house wasbuilt by professional base-ball player and managerConnie Mack in the 1920sfor his sons.
Powers and Miklosovichcompete for jobs withother stagers, of course,and the competition turnson price, not aesthetics.
“Clients look at the bot-tom line, but cheaper isnot necessarily better,”said Powers, whose pricingfor a redesign starts at$1,500; a typical home is$3,000.
Once Busybee is hired,paid by sellers or agents orboth, they sign a contractfor three to four months.She said 75 percent of list-ings settle in four monthsfrom staging, although itwas two months during theboom years.
Budgets vary. Sometimesthe client can only affordto have the first floor
staged, or a bedroom, soBusyBee’s proposals areroom to room.
“In two weeks, we willbegin ‘virtual staging’ forhouses with limited budg-ets,” she said. “Renderingsof what each room willlook like are uploaded intoa digital frame in each ofthose rooms. If the househas an outdated kitchenand the owner can afford$10,000 to remodel it, wecan design it virtually.”
“Everyone needs a vi-sual,” she said.
The typical house —1,500 to 2,000 square feet —takes a day of physicallabor to stage, after a cou-ple of days of behind thescenes planning. Biggerhouses take three or fourdays of labor, but the cou-ple hires freelancers tosupplement their three de-signers.
“It is a collaborative ef-fort,” Power said, addingthat staging is completedtwo to three weeks beforea house goes on the mar-ket.
How does the redesignstart?
“I go in and decide howto set up a room, alwaysthinking of how I wouldlive in it, what furniture isneeded, having a floor planin my head,” Powers said.“I see colors, ones thatwould inspire me.”
Better ideasMost stagers, Powers in-
cluded, say that the stagingshows on television makethings too simple and toocheap. She finds much bet-ter, cutting edge staging ad-vice in magazines andblogs.
“When homeownersoffer to help stage, I say nothanks,” she said. “Youwouldn’t believe how oftenI’m called in to rescue peo-ple who have started to doit themselves and don’tknow how to go on.”
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sionals who will do thejobs homeowners want,Kornkven also will designthe project, do the measur-ing and estimate the cost ofthe job. A private contrac-tor for 32 years, Kornkvenhas both experience inhome remodeling and con-tacts in the industry.
“I know who is good atthe various parts of thejob,” he said. “All of thecontractors are licensed,bonded and insured. Wedon’t use anybody that isfly-by-night.”
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Pro Install also benefitsthe contractors it employs,he said.
“We’re providing thecontractor a service be-cause he doesn’t have to goout and do all the billing.”Instead, Simonson Lumberand Hardware pays thecontractor and the cus-tomer pays Simonson, Ko-rnkven said.
Once the job is finished,he calls the homeowner tomake sure the job is doneto his or her satisfaction.
Pro Install has resonatedwith Simonson Lumberand Hardware customers,Kornkven said.
“It has taken off reallywell.”
Continued from Page 1
PRO INSTALL/
Home-staging professionals aim to boost sales
McClatchy Tribune
�� Stager Mark Miklosovich stands in the Wynnewoodhome that he and his partner, Anna Powers, workedon. The two “suggest things,” Powers said – “forinstance, adding a piece of furniture.”
Spring bringsflowers to decor By Kim CookAssociated Press
The late author andgardener Ruth Stoutonce wrote, “I lovespring anywhere, but if Icould choose I would al-ways greet it in a gar-den.”
After a grim winter,it’s fun to anticipate thefirst flower buds pop-ping up. But home fur-nishings stores arealready bursting withblossoms. Floral motifsare everywhere — onfurniture, textiles, wallart and accessories. Andshelter magazines likeElle Decor are featuringeye-catching florals intheir spring editions.
This season, you’llfind small, dainty printsreminiscent of old coun-try cottons, Asian-in-spired designs andlarge-scale contempo-rary florals in bold hues.
For modern-stylelovers, look at GarnetHill’s Snow & Grahamsateen bedding in Hy-drangea, Dogwood andRose Garden prints. Pier1’s Liliana and Cadmanchairs feature exuber-ant, happy florals in cur-rent hot colors like teal,berry, caramel and sage.
Chiasso’s Bella collec-tion for bed and bathshowcases an oversizedcitron-and-whitechrysanthemum on atranquil gray back-ground.
Contemporary floralsin one or two tones —
black or brown on white,for example — are an in-teresting alternative tothe typical array of col-ors. Look for throw pil-lows and dishware toadd an accent or two.
Two’s Company’s newChelsea collection, insweet small flowerprints that look freshand young, includeshandmade paper traysin pink/purple and yel-low/blue combinations,as well as a clever,printed, watering-canvase with glass liner.Garden Tea Party itemsinclude a stackableteapot-on-cup, and ateacup, saucer andspoon in patterns suchas hibiscus, lily of thevalley and cherry blos-som.
Mackenzie-Childs in-troduced a large floral-themed collection thisspring called FlowerMarket. Their designerscreated enamelwarepitchers, tea kettles andpicture frames, amongother items, all beauti-fully painted with tinyposies.
At Kneen & Co.,splurge on Nymphen-burg’s exquisite porce-lain table flowersevoking blooms likecherry blossoms and car-nations. Handmade from250-year-old archivalsamples, table flowerswere once favored overfresh blooms that couldwilt during dinner par-ties.
By Kathy VanMullekomDaily Press (NewportNews, Va.)
National Garden Bureaumember Dixondale Farmsrecently featured theseonion-growing and storagetips in their newsletter.The bureau likes the tipsand shares them forspring-planting:1. Plant the right variety
of onions at the right timeof year for your area, andbuy only from reputableproducers that send truevarieties. Choose fromShort-Day, Intermediate-Day or Long-Day varieties.2. When your plants ar-
rive, remove them from thebox and place them in awell-ventilated, cool areauntil you can plant them.Keep the plants dry untilthen, and do not put themin soil or water.3. Choose a location with
full sun and good drainagefor planting your onions.4. Prepare your onion
beds early, so a few cropsof weeds can be flushedand tilled under prior toplanting. Later, if needed,apply a post-emergent her-bicide or control weeds byhand.5. Fertilize with a bal-
anced fertilizer beforeplanting, and with a good
source of nitrogen everythree weeks until theonions start to bulb.6. Water your plants thor-
oughly and immediatelyafter planting. Use theknuckle rule to determinewhen to water during theseason. If you can feelmoisture when you stickyour finger in the groundup to your first knuckle,then the onions are wetenough. Use drip irrigation
rather than an overheadsprinkler system, whichmay promote the spread ofdisease.7. Keep a close eye on
the weather, especiallyearly in the season. Whenyou discover that a frost orfreeze is coming, water theonions in very well and putdown mulch or straw tohelp protect them. If it getsreally cold, you may wantto spread burlap over the
onions as insulation.8. Spray weekly with a
protective fungicide to pre-vent foliar diseases androtting during storage. Youwon’t notice there’s a prob-lem with the disease untilit’s too late and they startrotting after harvest.9. At harvest time, lift
the onions out of theground and put the top ofone onion over the bulb of
another. Let them dry forthree days in the field orgarden, and allow the topsto completely dry down be-fore clipping them.10. Store the harvested
onions in a cool, dry, well-ventilated location. Placethem in mesh bags or net-ting to permit air flow allaround the onions, and toprevent one rotten onionfrom touching the others.
See a map outliningwhich varieties of onionsgrow best in certain partsof the country atwww.dixondalefarms.com/category/onion—plants Learn more about good
flower and vegetable gar-dening through the Na-tional Garden Bureau atwww.ngb.org.
By Norman WinterMcClatchy Newspapers
If you love purple cone-flowers, then you have toput Prairie Splendor at thetop of your list. The Echi-nacea has undergone quitea transformation in recentyears with the additions ofother color and even thosewith frilly or fancy flowers.But it seems the old-fash-ioned rose pink is still themost-loved garden peren-nial.There are several things
that make Prairie Splen-dor a real winner in any-one’s book. First, it is areally fast bloomer. First-year plants reach full po-tential. Second, not only isit the first bloomer but itusually is the last as well.Finally is a trait I reallylike: its compact nature.Prairie Splendor dazzlesin the garden at about 24inches and boast largeflowers.You have a lot of options
when using it in the gar-den. You can do the obvi-ous and use it as thebackbone of the cottagestyle border. Use it with
rudbeckias or gloriosadaisies and tall blue SouthAmerican verbena for a re-ally stunning display.Prairie Splendor also
opens the door for creatingthe wild flower or meadowlook. Sown or transplantedin large informal driftswith the ox eye daisy and
black-eyed Susan, it can beused to create the ultimatewildflower meadow. Youalso find that PrairieSplendor makes an excel-
lent cut flower and staplein the backyard wildlifehabitat feeding birds andbutterflies.Early is the best time to
plant purple coneflowers.Select a healthy growingtransplant in a four-inchcontainer, and you willmost likely find success.These small plants withoutbuds are still producingroots, green leaves andwill get happy in your gar-den. This also goes for rud-beckias, Shasta daisies andcoreopsis.Choose a site in full sun
for best flower perform-ance. While the soil neednot be luxuriantly fertile,if it takes stick of dynamiteor a jackhammer to breakapart, plan on incorporat-ing 3 to 4 inches of organicmatter.While tilling, go ahead
and work in two pounds ofa slow release 12-6-6 fertil-izer per 100 square feet ofbed space. Space yourplants 18 to 24-inchesapart. An informalteardrop or figure 8-shaped shaped drift willlook awesome once theyare blooming.
In addition to the flow-ers mentioned above, tryalso with purple fountaingrass for a real showy dis-play. This will be one ofthose combinations thatwill lead your neighbors tothink you went to somespecialized training pro-gram during your vacation.In addition to Prairie
Splendor, look also for theaward winning Magnus,perennial plant of the yearin 1998. Magnus is a realwinner in the garden. Itwas selected for its vi-brant, rose-purple flowers.Its petals remain horizon-tal rather than drooping to-ward the ground.Bravado is another of my
favorites because of fra-grance. It may just be me,but a mid-morning strollthrough a patch of Bravadois a sensory sensation.Echinacea has long been
popular as a health foodsupplement, but to megrowing a patch of bloom-ing Prairie Splendor pur-ple coneflowers will dowonders that far outweighthe effect of a pill.
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McClatchy Tribune
�� Prairie Splendor combines with South American verbena and Spotlightrudbeckia for a terrific cottage garden look.
Prairie Splendor a winner in every garden
Cool spring weather is the perfect time to plant onions
�� Cool weather in spring is the perfect time to plantonions for use in fresh salads and your favoritecooked recipes.
McClatchy Tribune
By Stacy DownsMcClatchy Newspapers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. —It’s easy to get kitchen cab-inet envy when you see thelatest models with theirshiny car-lacquer exteriorsand hidden hinges. It’s nowonder painting cabinetsor replacing the fronts isall the rage.But it’s what’s behind the
doors that matters most.This is where we storefood, cookware, utensilsand more. If you reallywant to get jealous, opendrawers and doors of newcabinets with their fancy-pants slide-out pantriesand dish racks.“The problem with older
cabinets is that they looklike black holes inside,”says Krista Williamson,owner of K2 Workshops inOverland Park, Kan., whichoffers home-improvementclasses. “No one wants tocrawl through a dungeon.”However, simple modifi-
cations, such as addingsliding shelves and rollingpullout drawers, can giveexisting cabinets new life,Williamson says. Upgrad-ing what you have can savethousands of dollars versusreplacement. She demon-strates the theory on adecades-old cabinet fromHabitat ReStore, a non-profit that sells previouslyowned building materials.“This base cabinet had
an upper shelf that justcame out halfway,” shesays. “It was for storingsmall appliances like amixer and a blender. Butthe cabinet was kind ofuseless, because you stillhad to get down on yourhands and knees. And afourth of the storage spacewasn’t being used.”So Williamson removed
the worthless shelf. Shemeasured the width anddepth of the cabinet inte-rior and had a new shelfand reinforcements madewith ¾-inch plywood cut ata home-improvementwarehouse, securing itwith silicone. She foundRev-a-Shelf wooden andmetal pullouts from Lowe’sthat would fit inside.“It’s important to have
the right measurements,”she says. The pulloutsshould be a half-inch lesswide than your doors on ei-ther side. Sometimes they
have to be special ordered.“Someone was returningsome of the systems be-cause they weren’t theright fit.”In less than an hour,
Williamson installed glidesand turned the cabinetinto a more useful one withpullouts that can be usedfor stacks of dishes or potsand pans. She preferswooden drawers (“they’remore furniture like”), butmetal ones can be moreeconomical and space-effi-cient.“Just be sure to get the
sturdier metal ones,”Williamson cautions.“They’re not all createdequally.”
Clean firstBefore investing in any
products, take the time toclean and organize yourkitchen cabinets. KristiPelzel, owner of the Organ-ization People, categorizeseverything into zones:spices, linens, foil/wrap.Consider it an opportunityto pare down.“People usually have
way too many glasses,”Pelzel says. “Donate theones you don’t use. Theyshouldn’t be crammed in-side. Leave breathing-room space betweenthem.”The same goes for left-
over containers (limit twoper person). And Pelzelsuggests storing occasionalpieces elsewhere, espe-cially in a space-crunchedkitchen.“Put the turkey platter
and the silver you use oncea year in a box marked‘Thanksgiving,’” Pelzelsays. “They don’t need totake up precious real es-tate in the kitchen.”Pelzel advocates using
what you have for storagebefore buying more stuff.She likes using clear bag-gies because they’re space-efficient, and you caneasily see what’s inside.They’re good for storingcoupons, for example.
Kitchen cabinet organi-zation systems have be-come a popular category.Materials include whitepolymer, brushed alu-minum wire with chromeplating, birch and maplehardwoods, bamboo andrattan basket drawers. Oneof the most recent addi-tions to kitchen organiza-tional materials is clearglass for a more modernlook, but it comes with ahigher price tag.One of the main things
people struggle with isspice storage, says GeriHiggins, owner of PortfolioKitchen & Home, a kitchenshowroom in Kansas City.There are door-mount sys-tems and drawer inserts,which can be good as longas they’re not placed abovethe cooktop, where the hu-midity will shorten thespice life.Higgins separates the
spices by sweet and savoryand then arranges them al-phabetically. A littleMartha? Perhaps, but shehas a lot of spices. Shewishes she could go evenfurther in organizing them.“They need an app for
spice expiration by barcode,” Higgins says. “Theyhave wine-storage appsand new technology for ex-pired food in the refrigera-tor, so why not for spices,too?”
TipsMeasure. Be sure to
write down the height,width and depth of the in-side of your cabinet beforebuying anything. For exam-ple, a typical 18-inch-widecabinet is only 15 ½ incheswide inside.Shop around. Local
stores often carry suppliesthat are less expensivethan what’s found online,and you can avoid shippingcosts.Think ahead. Kitchen-
cabinet organization prod-ucts take a week or more toarrive.
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7. Faulty maintenance. Don’t set your cultivator
(or hoe) too deep, damag-ing plant roots. Pull someweeds by hand. 8. Over-pruning. As a rule, don’t remove
more than 30 percent ofthe foliage from shrubs inone cutting. And don’t“top” trees to control theirheight. “That reduces theirlife span rather than im-proves their health,” Ryansaid. 9. Botched planting. Choose the right plant
depth. “I know of one prop-erty where they put a treewith its root ball on thesurface of the ground, andthen mulched around it upto the level of the trunk,”Ryan said. “People don’tknow how to plant.” 10. Failing to start over. “Oftentimes, people let
diseased things grow thatshould be pulled out, andit affects the health of theentire crop,” McKinnonsaid. Start with a small plot so
you can correct mistakesmore easily, the expertssay. And look to yourcounty extension office forsupport if you run intotrouble. Garden coachesalso can diagnose prob-lems and suggest remedies,as can master gardenersand landscape designers.
Continued from Page 4MISTAKES/
Homegrown food is safer,cheaper, and pretty easy
McClatchy Tribune
�� Raised vegetable beds become attractive parts of the landscape when borderedby blooming perennials and annuals.
By Kathy VanMullekomDaily Press (NewportNews, Va.)
Homegrown in the citycan be as good as home-grown on the farm, espe-cially when it comes fromyour own backyard garden.There are several smart
reasons to grow the pro-duce that your householdeats, even if you do it on asmall scale.When you grow what you
eat, you know it’s as freshas fresh can be. No travel-ing hundreds of miles intrucks on a hot summerday.You know it’s safe to eat.
No wondering what’s beensprayed or not sprayed onthe plants.You save on your food
bill, especially if you useshare seeds and trans-plants with friends andfamily. No more frettingabout the $2.99 for oneEnglish cucumber or $2 forone red pepper.You also engage in an
outdoor activity that en-hances a healthier dietand lifestyle. No more justadmiring gardens onHGTV while you sit on thesofa and munch a bunch ofchips.Creating a small back-
yard vegetable garden forplanting warm-seasoncrops in May and cool-sea-son crops in fall and latewinter is easier than everbefore, thanks to ready-made raised garden kitsthat simplify design, dig-ging and weed control. Thekits, typically made fromcedar or composite lum-
ber, come in all sizes,shapes and price ranges,so it’s hard to find any goodexcuse for not raising atleast a few tomatoes fortasty BLTs.Assembly is easy. Usu-
ally all you need is ascrewdriver and hammer.Fill the frame with a veg-etable-growing mediumlike soil mixed with com-post and you’re ready toplant. No drainage prob-lems to worry about. Novoles to fight. Even bun-nies are less likely to hopover the boards to nibble.You can even set the gar-dens on concrete if yourplants have shallow roots.
Tips to grow onSurvey your soil. If you
garden in the ground, thebest soil is loam, which issoft, dark and crumbly.Loamy soil retains mois-ture but drains so it’s notsoggy; it’s also easy to dig.If you encounter clay orsandy soil, amend the soilwith aged compost orshredded hardwoodmulch.Size up your space.
When plotting the size ofyour garden, make sure it’slarge enough to yield theharvest you want. Yourplants should have room tomature and allow for goodair circulation, which re-duces pest and diseaseproblems. If you have lim-ited yard space, or none atall, grow vegetables andherbs in containers on adeck, terrace, balcony oreven on the windowsill.Let the sunshine in. Veg-
etable plants need plentyof sun — at least six hours
a day.Pick your plants for your
plot. Grow vegetables thatare expensive to buy in thegrocery store or at thefarmer’s market, such asspecialty tomatoes andpeppers.Source:
BonniePlants.com
Per person plants Asparagus: 5-10 plantsBush beans: 12-15 plantsBeets: 5-10 feet of plants,
� When you grow what you eat, youknow it’s as fresh as can be
Inside job: Making kitchencabinets more user-friendly
By Melissa Kossler DuttonFor The Associated Press
Spring is the time of yearwhen homes often get athorough cleaning. Usingthe right tools, techniquesand products for differentsurfaces and types of dirt,from windows to countersto floors, is key to doing thejob easily and effectively,said Debra Johnson, train-ing manager for the MerryMaids housecleaning com-pany in Memphis, Tenn.“It makes the job easier
if you have the right prod-ucts,” she said.Begin with the rooms or
areas that seem the dirti-est, suggested CarolynForte, director of theHome Appliances andCleaning Lab at the GoodHousekeeping ResearchInstitute.“Start with the thing that
bothers you most,” shesaid. “Do the bigger jobsfirst.”Johnson and Forte of-
fered the following advicefor effective spring clean-ing.�Windows: Use an am-
monia-based cleaner andmicrofiber cloth, Forte
said. Make sure to useplenty of cleaner to re-move the dirt. Change thewater and cloth as neces-sary. Avoid washing win-dows on sunny daysbecause the cleaner willdry too quickly and leavestreaks.�Window blinds: Close
plastic blinds and wipewith a damp cloth, Johnson
said. Reverse the slats andclean the other side of theblinds with a clean, dampcloth. Use a tool designedfor blind cleaning to cleanbetween the slats. Forcloth blinds, use a vacuumattachment to remove dustand dirt.�Wood floors: Wash
floors with a cleaner de-signed for wood surfaces,
Forte said. Choose thecleaner that’s appropriatefor the finish on the floor,either wax orpolyurethane. She favorsusing a microfiber cloth ona mop with a swivel head.� Laminate floors: Since
laminate is a very durablesurface, it can be cleanedwith a variety of cleaningproducts, hot water and amop or microfiber cloth,Johnson said.�Rugs: Send area rugs
that cannot go in a washingmachine to a professionalcleaner to avoid discolor-ing or damaging them, rec-ommended Johnson. Setsmaller rugs outside for agood airing, she added.When vacuuming a rug lo-cated in a doorway orother high traffic area,turn the rug over and runthe sweeper on the under-side of the rug, Forte said.
�Dust: Work from thetop down to avoid dirtyingareas that were justcleaned, Johnson said. Usea vacuum attachment to re-move cobwebs and dust incorners. The vacuum alsois a good way to removedust from lampshades andupholstered surfaces.Avoid feather dusters,Johnson added, as theyjust move the dust around.Wipe furniture with a
damp cloth because dustcan scratch wood surfaces,Forte said. She suggestsspraying a microfiber clothwith a small amount of fur-niture polish.� Tile: Spray a foaming
bathroom cleaner on tiledsurfaces and leave it on fora few minutes. Remove thecleaner with a clean rag orsponge. If the grout hasmildew, use a product de-signed to remove it. It may
take several applicationsand a lot of scrubbing witha grout brush to thoroughlyclean the grout, Johnsonsaid.Bathroom sinks and
counters: Foaming clean-ers or those designed to re-move soap scum will workbest. Make sure thecleaner you choose is safefor any special stone orcountertop in the bath-room.Kitchen sinks and coun-
ters: Use cleaners that aremore acidic or anti-bacter-ial in the kitchen, Johnsonsaid. Read the labels oncleaners as some may needto be left on the surface fora few minutes before beingwiped off, Forte added.Make sure the cleaner isappropriate for thecounter material.
By Paul OwersSun Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE,Fla. — With the economystarting to recover, con-sumers feel better aboutspending again — and thatspare cash is going backinto their homes.Home remodeling is on
an upswing after the indus-try’s worst slump since atleast the early 1960s.Scores of foreclosed
properties need a ton ofTLC, prompting buyers torenovate those tired or tat-tered spaces. Many otherhomeowners want to im-prove because they don’tplan to move — either bychoice or by circumstance.Some love their homes
but say they’d be morecomfortable living therelonger if they had newkitchens and baths.Others are caught in the
housing conundrum, un-able to sell and move be-cause they owe far morethan their homes areworth, a particular prob-lem in areas where hous-ing boomed, then tanked.As a result, they’re invest-ing in new floors, replacingwindows and doors, andmaking other changes asthey wait for home salesand prices to rebound.“A lot of people are say-
ing, ‘We’re here for thelong haul now,’ “ said BillFeinberg, president of Al-lied Kitchen & Bath inFort Lauderdale. “Myshowroom has been non-stop busy. We’re getting bigorders on a consistentbasis.”An Allied client, Ilana
Mosser, recently com-pleted a renovation to herCoral Springs, Fla., homeshe bought in 2002.
Mosser said the house“had good bones to it” butthe decor was dated. Soshe and her husband, Ken,gutted the kitchen, rippedup the tile, renovated abathroom, removed thepopcorn ceiling and addedhurricane-proof windows,among other changes.
Home oasisTheir goal: Make the
house an oasis, a placewhere they and their 13-year-old daughter, Valerie,would want to stay for 15years or longer.“Who’s going any-
where?” said Ilana Mosser,44, a headhunter for physi-cians. “I want Valerie tocome home someday andsay, ‘I want to have an en-gagement party here.’ “Harvard University’s
Joint Center for HousingStudies last month issued areport that revealed thenation’s home improve-ment market, at nearly$290 billion in 2009, standsto benefit from a post-re-cession glow of sorts. Thereport predicted thatspending on home im-provements would in-crease at an average 3.5percent pace in the nextfew years.Nationally, consumer
confidence has reached itshighest point since May.And a recent survey fromthe University of Floridaindicates that Florida resi-dents appear more willingto reach into their walletsthan they were over thepast few years.Residents without equity
in their homes are raiding
their savings accounts andembarking on morebudget-friendly upgrades,remodelers say.For many, though, fi-
nancing remains an issue.Banks have been reluc-
tant to lend during the pastfew years, preferring in-stead to boost capital amidthe recession.But Ward Kellogg, chief
executive of Boca Raton,Fla.-based Paradise Bank,said he expects banks tostart lending more in thenext year.Low home appraisals
have been the biggest hur-dle in qualifying for homeequity loans, Kellogg said.One way to remedy that: in-clude the value of the im-provements in theappraisal.“That will help get the
loan done,” he said.Before starting a remod-
eling project, a homeownermust get a building permit.Mike Fichera, BocaRaton’s building official,said homeowners havebeen going after lucrativetax breaks and other re-bates for energy-efficientupgrades to windows,doors and air-conditioningunits.“I’ve never seen so many
air conditionings getchanged out,” Ficherasaid.Remodelers and contrac-
tors say they have noticeda definite trend in movingless and renovating more.Scott Whiddon, presi-
dent of Causeway LumberCo., a Fort Lauderdale in-stitution since 1939, saidSouth Florida homeownersare making far fewer homeadditions and are more in-terested in replacing fea-tures.With the collapse of the
home-building industry inrecent years, more contrac-tors are available andlooking for remodelingwork. Allied’s Feinbergsaid he gets roughly fivecalls a week about job op-portunities.Barbara Gunning bought
a four-bedroom BocaRaton home in 2009 anddecided to renovate it lastyear.She and her husband up-
graded the swimming pooland added hurricane win-dows, customized closetsand renovated the kitchen.They also improved thelandscaping and extendedthe patio.“This is it,” Gunning
said. “This is our retire-ment home.”Real estate appraisers
and other industry profes-
sionals caution homeown-ers to make smart improve-ments that will boostproperty values and attractbuyers when it does cometime to sell, whenever thatis.Solid wood cabinets,
stone countertops, up-to-date appliances and under-cabinet lighting arefeatures that almost allbuyers will appreciate, re-modelers say.But forget about espe-
cially bright or odd-col-ored paint. And ahomeowner can shell out$20,000 to $25,000 for aswimming pool, but itwon’t add nearly as muchvalue to the house.Still, Frank Smith,
owner of J.F. Smith Design& Build in Fort Laud-erdale, said that when itcomes to renovations,homeowners shouldn’tworry about adding resalevalue and guessing whatfuture buyers might like.“You’re doing it for your
own enjoyment,” Smithsaid. “That’s where thereal value is.”
Cost vs. returnBelow are the average
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6 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, April 24, 2011
Remodeling set to surge thanks to low turnover, foreclosures
McClatchy Tribune
�� Consumers are starting to feel more comfortable about spending again,prompting them to put their spare cash back into their homes. Here, Ilana Mosser,of Coral Springs, Fla., stands in her newly remodeled kitchen.
Tools, techniques and tips for spring cleaning
�� Merry Maids employee Esther Jimenez cleans thebathroom of a home in Burbank, Calif. Spring cleaningis easier and more efficient if you use the right tools,techniques and products.
McClatchy Tribune
SPRING: See Page 7
By Susan ZevonFor The Associated Press
Tiny houses are goingmainstream.Just look at the Katrina
Cottage, originally de-signed by architects An-dres Duany and MarianneCusato as a dignified alter-native to the FEMA trailerfor flood-ravaged New Or-leans. The tiny charmerswith pitched roofs, nostal-gic front porches and 300to 1,800 square feet are be-coming popular elsewhere;Lowe’s home stores sell theblueprints and materials.The cottages are being
used as affordable hous-ing, guesthouses and vaca-tion cottages.It’s part of a larger trend
toward living small.The average size of the
American home expandedfrom 983 square feet in1950 to 2,340 square feet in2004, up 140 percent. Thisboom was largely driven bya belief that living bigmeant living well, and thatreal estate was a great in-vestment so the bigger thehouse the better the invest-ment.The recession is one
thing killing that notion.Millions of foreclosureshave meant “people havelost a ton of equity,” saidBoyce Thompson, editorialdirector of Builder maga-zine. Add in high unem-ployment and energy costs,and no wonder small mightseem better.According to the Ameri-
can Institute of Architectsin 2010, 57 percent of archi-tecture firms reported adecrease in the squarefootage of homes they de-signed.Another factor is peo-
ple’s desire to live moreecologically, less waste-fully.And there are demo-
graphic changes. Thomp-son points out thatone-third of Americanhome buyers are now sin-gle; people are marryinglater, and many don’t wantto wait until marriage toinvest in a house. More-
over, as Americans livelonger, many widows andwidowers are downsizingto small homes.And with elderly parents
and grown children return-ing home, there are moremultigenerational fami-lies, increasing the de-mand “for small auxiliarybuildings,” Cusato says.Tiny dwellings allow gen-erations of a family to liveside-by-side with privacy.
How small is tiny?Some people don’t just
want small; they want mi-nuscule.Mimi Zeiger, author of
“Tiny Houses” (Rizzoli In-ternational, 2009) and the
new “Micro-Green” (Riz-zoli International, March2011), defines tiny housesas around 1,000 squarefeet, although “some en-thusiasts cap them at the300- to 400-square-footrange,” she says.In “Tiny Houses,” Zeiger
presents three-dozen inter-national examples, includ-ing some in the UnitedStates. She believes thatAmerica’s abundance ofland and materials has tra-ditionally made us lessconscious of conservationthan people are elsewhere,but that is changing.Cusato credits Sarah Su-
sanka’s book “The Not SoBig House” (Taunton), firstpublished in 1998 and ex-
panded in 2009, with start-ing a movement to changethe way builders work.“People started sayingthey wanted their housesto be smaller, but better,”Cusato says.Susanka, who considers
a tiny house to be onemeasuring no more than500 square feet, once livedin an 8-by-12-foot flatbedtrailer truck.“There has always been
a fascination with tinyhouses and an under-ground interest in themthat surfaces when theeconomy goes down,” Su-sanka says.The best solution for
housing in America, shebelieves, will be in themiddle ground: 1,500 to2,500 square feet.“The gift of the recession
will be that Americans willbelieve that bigger is notbetter,” she says.
Making a tinyspace livable“You have to be very dis-
ciplined to live in a tinyspace,” Susanka says.Zeiger, who lives in a
small studio apartment inBrooklyn, N.Y., says, “Themost important thing thatmakes a tiny house livableis efficient space planningand clever storage. Like ona ship, things need to havedual purposes. You alsoneed good light and air, sothat the space isn’t claus-trophobic or hut-like, butis a space you want tospend time in.”Her table, for example,
serves as both kitchentable and office desk.Cusato agrees that light
is essential in a smallspace. She recommends“windows on multiplewalls in a room, two at aminimum — three or fourare ideal. Tall ceilings — 9feet in a small space feelsgreat. When living in a tinyhouse, lots of storage is es-sential. Nothing makes thewalls close in faster thanclutter.”
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Here are a few addi-tional tips for successfulhousecleaning from AllenRathey, president of theHousekeeping Channel, awebsite dedicated to effi-cient cleaning:� Clean dry to wet. Al-
ways sweep a floor beforemopping. Wetting dirt willmake it harder to remove.�More is not always bet-
ter. Follow the labels oncleaning products to avoidusing too much. Residuefrom cleaning products canattract more dirt.�When trying to remove
a spot or clean a dirty area,start wiping or scrubbing
gently. Too much pressurecan damage the surfaceunder the dirt.� Get extra life out of a
clean cloth by folding it inquarters. When one sidebecomes dirty, refold thecloth to reveal a cleanside.� Purchase doormats for
the interior and exterior ofyour home. The mats willcollect and absorb dirt andprevent it from beingspread indoors.� Cleaning equipment
should be washed regu-larly. Put sponges in thedishwater or microwave tosterilize. Wash microfiberrags in hot water withoutfabric softener. Cleanbrooms and scrub brushesin soapy water or hydrogenperoxide.
Continued from Page 6SPRING/
Ask AmyEvery day in the classifieds
To subscribe 780-1215 or 1-800-811-2580
Living well in less space
�� This undated photo from “Tiny Houses,” by MimiZeiger, courtesy of Rizzoli, shows a home designed byarchitects Margarita McGrath and Scott Oliver in theBrooklyn borough of New York. When McGrath andOliver transformed the existing row house in the fortGreene neighborhood of Brooklyn, they preserved atall maple tree in the front yard, creating an outsideroom around it.
Associated Press
McClatchy Tribune
�� Sierra Gold produces bell shaped flowersfrom summer through frost.
Sierra Apricotesperanza a realshowstopperBy Norman WinterMcClatchy Newspapers
Esperanza, or yellowbells, has become a hotplant in the past coupleof years and will keepon rising in popularitythanks to the selectioncalled Sierra Apricot.Scores of bell shapedgolden apricot blos-soms are enough tomake everyone want totry it. The fact that it at-tracts hummingbirds isanother outstandingvirtue.It was a few years ago
that most gardenersoutside of the warm re-gions had never triedthis plant. Then the yel-low form called GoldStar became a TexasSuper Star winner. PanAmerican seed alsostirred the interest byintroducing MayanGold the first widelyproduced seed selec-tion making it a choiceannual selection allacross the country.Sierra Apricot is a hy-
brid of Tecoma stansand Tecoma alata and
is in the family knownas Bignoniaceae, whichmeans it is related toour native cross-vine. Itis a tropical native tothe warmest parts ofthe United States, Mex-ico and South America.It is listed as a zone 9 orhigher plant thoughmany gardeners aretouting it to zone 8.Everyone else willenjoy it as an annualand a very good buy forthe gardening dollar.Sierra Gold is a com-
pact selection reaching4 to 5 feet tall bloomingfrom spring throughfrost and laughing atJuly and August heat.The striking flowers arecomplemented by darkgreen, glossy foliage.Hummingbirds relishthe esperanza’s nectar.Select a site in full
sun for best blooming,but they also performnicely in morning sunand afternoon shade.Grow them in large con-tainers around theporch, patio or deck, or
FLOWER: See Page 8
By Kathleen LynnThe Record (HackensackN.J.)
HACKENSACK, N.J. —Newlyweds with no rehabskills renovate a neglected60-year-old home and, aftera few mishaps, end up witha showplace.Sounds like a great idea
for a TV home-improve-ment show, right? That’swhat the folks at DIY (Do ItYourself) Network thoughtwhen they heard aboutMark and Diana Sanickiwho paid $392,500 a yearago for a Ramsey, N.J.,house in need of an over-haul. After the Sanickis ap-plied to be on one of theirshows, the network dis-patched TV cameras tonorthern New Jersey to fol-low their progress, startinglast summer.But the story hasn’t
worked out as expected.As DIY prepares to fea-
ture the Sanickis in a se-ries called “RenovationRookies,” the home’s inte-rior remains gutted, a lat-tice of beams and studs.The Sanickis fired theircontractor last fall and de-cided to become their owngeneral contractors. Thesearch for reliable subcon-tractors, followed by theharsh winter, halted workfor months.But the show will go on,
and the Sanickis remainsurprisingly upbeat.They’re an energetic pairwho have corporate jobs inmarketing and sales andalso own an ice creamstore in Clifton, N.J., wherethey live with Diana’s par-ents.“It shouldn’t take a year
to do something like this; itshould take a few months,”said Mark, 30. But he con-siders the venture to be“high risk, high reward.”“We got a great deal on
the house,” he said. “Whatwe’re putting in, we’re get-ting back and then some. ...No matter what, I still be-lieve this is a home run,even with the pitfalls.”If the Sanickis can finish
the renovation for about$110,000, as they hope to,they expect to end up witha house worth $600,000 ormore for a total cost ofaround $500,000.The Sanickis chose the
house for its location, on aleafy street a few blocksfrom Ramsey’s downtown.“They bought the street;
they bought the town,” saidtheir real estate agent, Al-lison Witkowski of Re/Maxin Saddle River, N.J. “Youcan’t buy a house in Ram-sey for under $400,000that’s this size. We lookedat so many bad houses.”
Interesting storyThey pitched their story
to DIY Network, a sistercompany of HGTV. Theyhoped the network wouldsend in a team of contrac-tors to help with the job,but the network justwanted to film their adven-tures and misadventures —such as the time Markperched on a wobbly cin-derblock to cut an over-head beam, because theydidn’t yet own a ladder.“They just seemed like a
great couple with a greatstory,” said Andy Singer,vice president of program-ming at DIY Network.Producer Dave Lane of
Rivr Media of Knoxville,Tenn., which filmed theSanickis, said he wasdrawn to the Sanickis’“character and theirsenses of humor.”“The way they carry
themselves is made forTV,” Lane said.The Sanickis said they
quickly got used to havingthe cameras around. “Afterthe first day, you don’t real-ize they’re there,” saidDiana, 28. “You’re just try-ing to get the job done.”“We weren’t acting,”
Mark said. “We were justfocused on the task athand. The show kind of
carries itself. The thoughtof people not knowing howto do any of this and havingto do all of this — obvi-ously that’s going to bevery entertaining.”Home renovations can
certainly strain a relation-ship, but the Sanickis saytheir marriage has sur-vived.“You have your fights,
but at the end of the dayyou realize you love eachother and you could gothrough everything to-gether,” Mark said. “It’staxing on a marriage, butwe’re fine. Everything’sfine. We’re still in love andstill married.”Working with their for-
mer contractor, they guttedthe interior and tore threelayers of siding and insula-tion off the exterior. Thework has been “a hugelearning process,” saidMark, who never owned ahome before.“I’m not even used to
cutting a lawn, and thenext thing we’re trying toSheetrock an entirehouse,” Mark said. “Manyof the things we weredoing, we realized therewas probably a more effi-cient way to do it. But howelse you going to learn?”They’ve made some
progress: A new roof is in
place, along with theplumbing system and somenew windows. Workers re-cently started on the exte-rior, which will be stuccoand stone.Mark said the experi-
ence has taught them thatit’s key to choose the rightcontractor and keep set-backs in perspective.“I have the mentality of
‘the world’s not ending,’”Mark said. “Any type ofproblem can be solved.”Diana said she learned
not to “let my impatienceor frustration get in theway of the end result.”Mark also liked discover-
ing how much willpowerand persistence he has, ashe tackled jobs such asjack hammering the frontsteps.“It was gratifying to do
something you’re not usedto doing and not stop untilit’s done,” he said.
Never gave upAs the months dragged
on, they occasionallythought of walking awaybut rejected the idea. Forone thing, they believed intheir original vision; foranother, they realized theycouldn’t sell the guttedhouse without facing a pos-sible loss.
“We definitely didn’twant to give up, nor werewe in a position to do so,”Mark said.They are trying to closely
manage their budget,partly by doing some workthemselves and partly bygetting several bids oneach job. They find that,thanks to the constructionslowdown, many subcon-tractors are willing to cuttheir prices just to staybusy.“If you really do your
homework and get a lot ofquotes, you can save a lotof money,” Diana said.They’ve found a lot of sub-contractors through recom-mendations from friendsand relatives in the Polishcommunity.On the show, Mark jokes
that a home repair showstarring the two of themwould be called “TwoBozos and a Hammer.”“It’s been a ride, man,”
Mark said. He occasionallywonders if it will all workout, but in his more hope-ful moments, he says, “inthe grand scheme of things,we’ll look back and it’ll begreat.”“It’s definitely a hard
way to get what you want,”Diana said. “In the end, isit worth it? I’ll get back toyou on that one.”
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8 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, April 24, 2011
plant in fertile, well-drained soil in the tropi-cal-style garden. Amendheavy, poorly drained soilwith the addition of 3 to 4inches of organic matterand till to a depth of 8 to 10inches. This will increaseyour opportunity of aspring return in zone 8.While preparing the soil,
incorporate 2 pounds of aslow-release, 12-6-6 fertil-izer per 100 square feet ofplanting area. Dig theplanting hole two to threetimes as large as the rootball and plant at the samedepth it is growing in thecontainer.Feed container-grown
plants with a dilutedwater-soluble 20-20-20 fer-tilizer every other week oruse controlled-releasegranules according to theformula recommendation.Keep in mind that dailywatering and high temper-atures usually mean fertil-izing more often. Feedthose in the landscapeevery four to six weekswith light applications offertilizer.Use the Sierra Apricot
around the pool for a lookof the islands. Grow undertall bananas or upright ele-phant ears. Combine withother hummingbird-at-tracting plants like theSilky Gold asclepias,Brazilian sage or bog sage,or for a real showstopperplant it with Mystic Spiresblue salvia.Many esperanza are sold
generically, but the varietyname Sierra Apricot haswinner written all over it.Ask your garden center toget it for you.It is fun to grow tropicals
at our homes, and it is es-pecially nice when theybloom non-stop. This rep-resents good value for yourdollar whether you want toprotect through the winteror start over next spring.
Continued from Page 7FLOWER/
United Way of Grand ForksEast Grand Forks & Areaunitedwaygfegf.org
GIVE.ADVOCATE.VOLUNTEER.
On reality TV, pitfalls of a bargain
McClatchy Tribune
�� Mark, right, and Diana Sanicki, left, walk with real estate agent Allison Witkowski outside the home theybought and gut renovated inside and out in Ramsey, N.J. Their experience will be on a new TV series“Renovation Rookies.”
